Gallivanting Kanto
by Annarchy Kitsune
Summary: Zack and Mana set off on their own journey through Kanto...will it be pleasant? Who knows? Not Continuing.
1. Episode 1 Yuki

Episode One: Yuki

"She's either late or not coming at all…" he said, running a hand through his oxblood, spiky red hair. His red vest flapped in the breeze, the cool air making his tshirt press against his chest. The little brown fox sitting on his shoulder looked around. "I mean, she should be turning ten today. Unless I got the date wrong?" he sighed. He leaned back against the wall and pressed his back against the cool stone, enjoying the sensation against his back. He looked off in the distance, Professor Oak's laboratory, the largest building in all of Pallet Town, was probably the only attraction worth seeing in all of Kanto. "I wonder what she's doing… Or where she's hiding." he pondered, leaning his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Vee!"

Zack cracked an eye open and reached up to poke the brown fox in the ribs, making her squirm and squeal. "What do you mean 'up my butt'?" He poked her again and tickled her sides. "Are you being a wiseass?"

"Eevee vee!"

"Oh? Was that another wisecrack?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh well, excuse me for not being fluent in Poké

mon," Zack said, rolling his eyes. "Arceus would strike me down before I ever understand a word of what you're saying. So bite me." Just as he was pulling his hand away he felt her jaws chomp down on his fingers. "OW!" he cried out. She jumped down from his shoulder onto the ground in front of him. "You little monster, that really hurt."

"You're such a baby, Zack." Her long, brown pigtails fluttered in the wind, her black tshirt pressing up against her and her white skirt fluttering also, the sparkles on the pink heart near the hem of her skirt shimmering in the sunlight. She unfolded her arms and leaned forward to pull at her thigh high white socks, which were the opposite color of her elbow length, fingerless gloves. She tapped the toes of her white shoes before looking back up at him. "Were you waiting long?"

"Long enough to be bored waiting for you. There are a million other things I could have been doing right now, but instead I've been waiting here for an hour for her Majesty to arrive, and so on and so forth and—"

Her face contorted as she experienced emotional evolution, going from annoyed to angry to furious within only a few seconds. She placed her hands on her hips. "Well sorry for being late, you big jerk! It just so happens to be my birthday today and my parents wanted to spend it with me."

Zack sighed. "Geeze Mana, calm down. You always take things too seriously, takes the fun out of picking on you. But then again, your weird moods won't ruin my good day. I have two Pokémon to your none." Mana scowled at him as he pulled a white and red sphere from his belt. With a flick of his wrist he tossed the ball into the air and it split into two, light spilling out and materializing on the ground in front of him and beside his Eevee. When the Pokémon finally materialized completely, the sphere snapped shut and returned to his hand, leaving behind a blue, dog like Pokémon standing upright on black feet, two black, floppy like ears on either side of his head and eyes as red as Zack's hair.

"Rai," it said, scratching its head.

"His name is Sentou, and he's a Riol—"

Mana twirled around on her heel and faced in the direction of the lab. "Yeah yeah, Mr. I'm-from-Sinnoh-and-My-Parents-Are-Rich, blahblahblah." With a dismissive wave of her hand over her shoulder she began walking in the direction of the laboratory. "You are your two trophies coming or not?" Zack shrugged and returned Sentou to his Pokéball before catching up to her, his Eevee trotting beside him.

It only took them a little over a half hour to reach Professor Oak's laboratory, climbing the hill that took them to the front doors. Mana pushed the door open and let them in, finding themselves in the lobby. The décor matched the red color of the building in various shades, while everything else was made of polished wood. They walked further into the room and found themselves completely alone.

"Maybe there's no one here?" Mana asked.

"Yo, professor! Mana is here for her dex and starter," he shouted.

Suddenly there was a bang, a crash and some cries of pain coming from the floor below. Zack and Mana both exchanged glances before finding the stairs that lead them downstairs into the research area of the laboratory. They found an old man, around his sixties, leaning on a table and rubbing the back of his head. His hair was grey with flecks of white and what probably used to be his natural hair color before age caught up to him. When he finally noticed them he straightened and adjusted his red shirt beneath his white lab coat.

"Ahem, sorry about that. My chair just broke right out from under me." Zack and Mana noticed the chair sitting on its side behind him, its wheel base having rolled several feet away, leaving the chair in two pieces. He held up a hand to stall any questions and picked up the phone off the floor, putting the receiver to his ear. "Hello? Are you still there? Yeah, sorry about that, my chair broke and—What does my age have to do with this? I know that…Gary, I'll have to let you go, I have someone here for her appointment. Yeah—uh huh. In an hour? That's fine Gary, I'll see you then. Bye now." The professor hung up the phone and placed it on the desk beside him before picking up the top portion of his broken chair, sighing. "And this was my favorite chair no less…"

"Is everything okay?" Mana asked.

The professor turned around to face them, still holding the seat in his hands. "Oh right, yes, you're here for your dex and your starter. Follow me." They followed him into another section of the laboratory where they kept Pokémon in their Pokéballs on shelves. He placed the broken seat on the couch near the wall before walking over to a monitor on the other side of the room. He punched some keys and typed something into the screen before a machine wheezed and whirred to life. Four panels on the floor in the center of the room vanished as a pedestal holding a dome like container rose up from beneath the floor. The professor approached it and pressed some more buttons before the glass dome clicked and slid all the way back, revealing its contents inside. Sitting inside the container were three Pokéballs, each polished and identical to the other. He reached for one of the balls and gave it a toss, the light spilling out and materializing a blue turtle Pokémon on the floor.

"This is Squirtle, the water Pokémon. This is a great starter for beginners because of its docile nature and its quick learning. It can pick up on things much quicker than some other starter Pokémon and so it's a rather popular choice for our region."

"Squir!"

He returned the Pokémon into its Pokéball and back into the container before taking the next one, tossing that one as well. This time an orange lizard like Pokémon appeared, a flame on the tip of its tail.

"This is Charmander and he's a fire type. They have a lot of energy and spirit, and are sometimes prone to wanting to play or do whatever it is they want to do rather than train. Though they do make for a great starter, they're a little harder to handle because of their high energy and personality, kind of like small children."

"Charmander!" it said right before the professor returned it to its Pokéball. He tossed the third ball and it revealed another turtle like Pokémon only this one had dark green spots and a plant bulb like shell on its back.

"This here is Bulbasaur and it's a grass Pokémon. Personality wise they're a mixture of both—"

"I'll take her!" Mana said.

"Are you certain?" the professor asked.

"Yep, she's perfect."

"Well, alright." He withdrew the Bulbasaur into its Pokéball and handed it to her. "Take good care of her."

"Thank you," she said.

The professor looked over at Zack and then down at his Eevee sitting beside him on the floor before looking back up at him. "I see you already have a Pokémon so I don't see how you require one. I only have three official ones at the moment and since Mana has just taken one I'd appreciate—"

"Yeah, sure, don't worry about it. I already have two anyway since my dad recently came back from Sinnoh." Zack shrugged.

"Well then, in that case just wait here a moment." He returned to the monitor and punched in some more commands, after which the container returned to its place beneath the floor, the panels reappearing in their place. The professor disappeared behind some sliding doors near the back of the room and was gone several minutes before he re-emerged with two red devices and two containers. He handed them each a red Pokédex and a container, which each contained five empty Pokéballs. "When you come across a Pokémon you haven't seen before or you simply want information on a particular Pokémon, simply point at it and it will record the Pokémon into your device and show you information about it. The balls I'm sure don't require any explanation."

"Thank you, professor," they both said in unison.

They said their goodbyes and left the building the way they had come, walking down the hill and making their way toward the route that would take them away from their home town. It didn't take long before they found it, having spent the time getting there with barely any talking as they both considered what was about to take place. As soon as they reached the first route Zack stopped in his tracks while Mana walked several paces ahead of him before turning around to face him.

"You knew this was coming," she said while taking the Pokéball from her belt.

"Of course, don't think I haven't been waiting for this day for a while now." Zack thrust a finger in her direction. "I'm calling you out! It's time for a Pokémon battle, one on one."

"Humph, I accept and you better get ready, Zack, because we're going all out." She tossed the ball in the air with a flourish of her arm and the sphere split into two, spilling its contents in a stream of light, materializing Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, take the stage!"

"Yuki, go!" The Eevee leapt to take her place in front of Zack. "Ladies first."

"Aw, thank you, but you'll regret that. Bulbasaur, Vine Whip on the double!"

"Yuki, dash between the vines until you get close enough and use Shadow Ball."

Vines sprouted and grew in length from the little green Pokémon, both racing toward the brown fox that leapt in between the vines and weaved from side to side, avoiding their lashes as she charged forward. A purple sphere of shadow like energy began to gather at her mouth, growing with each step she took closer to her opponent. As soon as she had closed the gap between them she stopped in her tracks and used her momentum to blast the Shadow Ball directly into the Bulbasaur's face. The force of the impact sent the green Pokémon rolling backwards before sliding to a stop.

"Quick, Tackle it for good measure!" Yuki rushed forward and rammed her head into the green Pokémon's side, making it tumble backward even further. Mana scowled at the awful treatment of her Pokémon and returned it to its Pokéball. Without even so much as looking at him she turned around and began walking away. "Hey, what's up?" No reply. "Aw come on, Yuki and I have been together longer, so of course she'd be stronger than your starter."

"And you've proven that by Tackling a Pokémon that was already down. Good job, congratulations. Now are you going to lead us to the next town or what? Bulbasaur can't battle and I need to find a Pokémon Center."

Zack groaned loudly. "I guess I didn't think that one through." He trotted to catch up to her, Yuki following beside him.

(~_~)

"Shade, Shadow, report."

Two tall figures in black capes stood before a monitor, one of them had a black crow sitting on his shoulder.

"Our excavation of Mount Moon is going quite well, perhaps better than expected," said the one with the crow. "The Clefairy are being harvested even as we speak for Game Corner. Soon, people will pay good money for this rare Pokémon."

"And the police still haven't caught on."

"Perfect," said the person on the monitor. "You're both the finest members I could ask for. Be certain not to screw this plan up."

"Of course, sir," they both said in unison right before the screen went dark.

"Damn it, what a boring job. I'd much rather be out there scamming newbies," said the one with the crow. He turned to look at his partner before sighing. "Yeah yeah, I know that look."


	2. Episode 2 You have to be Kidding Me

**You have got to be kidding me**

Episode 2

The sun made the journey toward Viridian city all that much more unbearable as Mana complained for the dozenth time since lunch hours ago that she was still hungry and with each complaint Zack became more and more irritable. He rubbed his forehead between his eyes where it had become sore from furrowing his brow in annoyance at the girl all afternoon.

"I'm hungry…" Mana complained loudly. Yuki had been resting across Zack's shoulders and lifted her head to stare at the girl lagging behind. "Zack, when are we stopping for—"

"Mana, I'm hungry too but would you please keep it down?" He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Are you telling me to shut up?" she asked in return, raising her voice again.

Zack's brow furrowed yet again and he sighed, narrowing his eyes and walking almost blindly. "No, I'm just asking you to keep it quiet or else you'll—" He had spoken too loudly and several caws came from the trees behind them which seemed to get the attention of other bird Pokemon who also joined in. "Oh geeze no, please…" Zack turned around and looked up over Mana's head as a flock of Spearows began gathering together and moving toward them. Mana tilted her head and stared at him confusedly. "Are you serious?"

"Am I serious what?" she asked just when Zack grabbed her by the wrist and began pulling her behind him at a breakneck run. "Zack, what are you doing?" she asked as he picked up the pace.

"Flock of Spearrows… Just run!" he shouted back between breaths.

"Eeeeeeeeeeh!"

(~)

They had managed to make it to the city's outskirts, much to Zack's surprise, in one piece, yet again much to Zack's surprise. Zack was bent over and holding onto his stomach with one hand and the other on a knee as he tried to catch his breath while Mana leaned against a signpost behind him in much the same condition.

"That's what you get for being so damn loud, Zack," Mana said between breaths.

Zack stopped panting and slowly stood up straight, turned around and glared at the girl from out of the corner of his eye. "What did you say?"

"I said you were being loud, geeze. You didn't have to ye—"

"You complained for three hours, Mana, and each time you whined you got louder and louder." He turned to face away from her and placed both hands on hips. "I warned you about being quiet, I even told you not to eat everything in one shot because we had more to go. I was hungry too, you know. Stop acting like you're travelling by yourself." Shoving his hands into his pockets he turned toward the city.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have been so hungry if you had bought more food!" she retorted.

Again he furrowed his brow, the arching beginning to make his head ache as well. "I'm sorry I didn't have enough money for a buffet, your Majesty."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She pushed off the sign post and stomped toward him, kicking up dust on the dirt road.

"I don't see why I had to pay for everything, Mana. I'm not your personal bank. If you wanted more food then you should have pitched in."

"Well, maybe if you weren't so selfish I might have," she shouted back, her hands on both hips as she stared at him indignantly. "Sometimes I wonder if you only brought me along because I have money."

Something nearly snapped inside Zack and he simply couldn't take her attitude any longer. He turned around and opened his mouth to say something just when a car pulled up beside them, the sound of giggling and cheering females coming from the back of the car. Zack clenched his teeth and decided to say nothing to her.

"Ladies, ladies, settle down," the driver said, though it did nothing to quell the cheering squad as they all chanted his name, Gary, over and over again. The driver looked very much like one of those old butlers Zack used to read about in old fairy tale books with the black tuxedo, grey hair and white gloves. The passenger beside him had spiky brown hair and brown eyes and wore a blue sweater over blue jeans, brown boots and a green and yellow yin-yang pendant which hung from his neck. The driver killed the engine and opened the door of his red convertible and stepped out, allowing his passenger to step out before closing the door. Gary leaned against it while the cheering squad gathered around him. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

"What do you want, Green?" Zack asked, still irritated at his travel companion though the sudden distraction did help to cool him off before he had said anything he might have regretted. "I don't have time to play with you right now."

"What makes you think I'm here for you?" Gary pulled out a Pokeball from one of his pockets and began to spin it on one finger. "This is the first town. Problem?" He chuckled when Zack didn't reply. "Of course, Ashy-boy is falling behind."

"Then what? You want to battle or something?" Zack asked, looking away.

"Nah, I'm actually not here for you. Though it's rather funny you think I am." Zack shot Gary a glare. "Actually, I stopped to offer Mana a ride. I know how she doesn't like to walk and after all, we're friends." He flashed Mana a smile which seemed to seal the deal as her face heated up a bit.

"Do you mean that, Green?" she asked sweetly.

Zack rolled his eyes and turned away in disgust. He didn't understand why so many girls would trip over themselves for him. He might be rich and come from a wealthy family, but he's also arrogant, conceited and a womanizer. Zack wouldn't be surprised if each town Gary stepped into he'd find some girl to lead on. He wasn't sure what was worse, the guy who lead them on or any girl stupid enough to fall for a jerk like him.

"Of course," he replied, smiling while tossing the ball in the air and catching it.

Zack glared at him from the corner of his eye before looking away again, shoving both hands into his pockets. That guy simply pissed him off. "Mana can do whatever the hell she wants, I don't care anymore. However, I'm calling you out, Green. Yuki verses your starter, right here, right now."

"Zack, are you sure about this?" Mana asked. "Gary is pretty stro—"

"I don't need your input, Mana," he shot back.

Gary chuckled and several of the girls gasped and booed him. He returned the Pokeball back to its original size and returned it to his pocket. "Naw, not here. Meet me on Route 22 in ten minutes," he said, gesturing with a thumb toward the route. "Loser has to buy dinner for the winner and his companions."

"Fine, agreed." Zack waved a hand over his shoulder and began walking away.

"Are you sure you can afford it, boy?" Gary shouted at him.

Zack stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "You'll be buying me pizza later, jerk."

"What about Mana?" Gary asked.

"What about her? She's your problem now." Zack felt mildly satisfied at the sound of annoyance coming from the boy behind him as he made his way toward the Pokemon center.

(~)

He took longer than he had wanted to at the center, but he managed to get there nonetheless, feeling quite good about having made the jerk wait. He stepped onto the route and found Gary leaning on the side of the car with his arms folded across his chest, surrounded by his group of fan girls while Mana sat on the hood.

"You're late, kid," Gary said, watching Zack as he approached.

"Between the two of us, I have to wonder about that." Zack stopped and let his backpack slide off his shoulders and into his hands before tossing it aside.

"Wonder about what?" Gary asked as he pushed off the car and stood facing Zack.

"Which one of us is really the kid." Zack lowered his face as Yuki slowly rose up and leapt off his shoulders, landing on the ground in front of him with relative ease. "You might be older than I am, but it's easy to see who the man is here."

"You've got a lot of mouth for someone so small." Gary reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokeball and pressed the button, enlarging it. "You're barking up the wrong tree, mutt." Zack chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You're the one who's been barking the entire time."

"Tch, I'll make you pay for that!" He tossed his Pokeball and it split open, spilling a beam of light onto the ground in front of him which materialized into a small, turtle like creature standing on both hind legs.

"Squirtle!" said the turtle Pokemon.

"We'll start. Yuki, nail it with Quick Attack!"

The Eevee dashed forward toward the turtle Pokemon, leaving a trail of light behind her. Just as she was about to collide with the Squirtle Gary shouted a command. "Withdraw!" The Squirtle withdrew its head and limbs into its shell, protecting it as Yuki collided with it and sent it sliding backward several feet.

"Vee…" Yuki took a step back and shook her head to clear it. The turtle Pokemon righted itself as it pushed its head and limbs back out. The Eevee shook herself and regained her composure, staring down her opponent.

"Alright, round two. Quick Attack again!" Zack fist pumped the air out in front of him as Yuki charged forward and Gary commanded it to Withdraw, again leaving the Eevee to headbutt into the shell. Once the turtle Pokemon returned its limps to their original position and Yuki had shaken off the second attempt at attacking, Zack decided to try something else.

"Shadow Ball!"

"Bubble to block," Gary said, yawning.

Yuki opened her mouth and a dark, purple mist began to form into an orb shape between her jaws. Squirtle had already begun blowing bubbles in her direction in an attempt to deflect or block her attack. Once the orb had grown large enough she raised her head and spat it out toward the Squirtle, popping every bubble it passed as it shot forward. Zack had been confident it would have worked until the bubbles began to slow down the Shadow Ball's progress until it finally stopped it, causing it to fall short of its intended target and disappear with a poof once it hit the ground. The Squirtle made a little dance on the spot and brought a hand up to one eye, pulling down its bottom lid in a mocking gesture.

"Acreus damnit…" Zack said through gritted teeth. He didn't have much else to go on in way of a battle strategy, finding their arsenal of attacks rather limiting at the moment, and with Gary having countered what attacks they did use didn't make it any easier either. He thought for a few seconds until he finally decided on a plan. "Yuki, use Quick Attack to get in close!"

"Aw come on, Zack, this is getting old. Withdraw, again…"

Yuki shot forward again and quickly closed the gap between them. The turtle Pokemon withdrew into its shell but stayed right where it was as Yuki stopped and just stood a few steps away, not doing anything. Confused, Squirtle came out of its shell.

"Now, Sand Attack!" Yuki used her front legs to spin herself around and drag her tail against the ground, throwing sand in the turtle's face. "Now get around it and attack with Shadow Ball before it can recover!" She began gathering the mist into an orb between her jaws as she crouched low before pushing herself off the ground using her legs and flipping over the Squirtle to land behind it. She twisted her body so that her head faced away from the Pokemon's back and swung it forward, shooting the Shadow Ball and adding more momentum before it collided into the slow-to-react Pokemon, sending it flying toward Zack until it slid to a stop.

"Yeah, got it!" Zack pumped his fist again.

"Turn around and use Water Gun!"

Zack stopped his victory dance and watched in dismay as the Squirtle stood up, wiped the sand away from its eyes and turn around, shooting pellets of water at Yuki. Zack was just about to shout a command but was a second too late as several of them had already struck her, causing her to tumble backward. Once the turtle Pokemon was satisfied it stopped its attack. Zack waited for Yuki to stand but realized she had already passed out.

"Squirtle, return." Gary had pulled out his Pokeball and recalled his Pokemon.

Without even so much as a word to either Gary or Mana, Zack ran toward Yuki and scooped her up into his arms and ran toward the center.

(~)

Zack sighed as he thought back on the battle earlier. He realized it had been his fault they had not only lost, but that Yuki had to be treated at the center. He had been too arrogant and thought he had won the battle before he had actually won the battle, and it had cost him the victory. He made a mental note to try to not do that again.

"You alright there, Zacky boy?" Zack turned around in his seat to find a girl with light brown hair sticking out from under a hat approaching. She had on a blue tank top and red skirt, with matching blue socks that rode up to her thighs and white runners.

"Oh, hi Leaf…" Zack greeted her, turning around in his seat so his back was to her again. She came up to the seat beside him and leapt over the back, plopping herself down beside him.

"So I ran into Mana on the way here. She said she'd hang out with Green for a bit but that if she wanted to come with you she'd wait at some center for you." Zack snorted indignantly but said nothing. "So I guess I'll be travelling with you now. That is, once Yuki's fine."


End file.
